I was wondering which conductor you like for the 2nd Symphony.
I have a CD of Mikhail Pletnev with Russian National Orchestra, but honestly I don't like it very much, especially after the concert at Concertgebouw. It doen't have much depth and the music passes before you know it. A friend of mine recommended Andre Previn with the London Symphony Orchestra. I've ordered it and it's on the way.

Which one do you guys recommend?

Thanks.

S

Last edited by Sasha on Mon Aug 13, 2007 7:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Is the Previn recording you referred to on Telarc? If it is, that's the one I cut my ears on a while back, though somehow I lost the disc. I remember really liking it.

I picked up a cheaper copy of the complete symphonies by Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony on Vox, but I think they're just OK. I think the performance is fine, but the recording quality lacks intensity and is a little flat. Not enough zip!

Still though, I could listen to Rachmaninoff monaurally on a scratchy record from 1940 and it would be fine by me!

ccaranna wrote:Is the Previn recording you referred to on Telarc? If it is, that's the one I cut my ears on a while back, though somehow I lost the disc. I remember really liking it.

Sorry, it took me a while to go get the jacket to find out which one it was...Let's see... no, it's André Previn with London Symphony Orchestra, and the label is RCA. It's very nice. Do you think yours can sound a lot different from mine even by the same conductor? It might be fun to compare???

I have the Previn/LSO and Ashkenazy's Concertgebouw editions and consider both to be marvellous interpretations. If anything, I prefer Ashkenazy of the two (albeit the clarinet solo in the adagio in Previn's is out of this world).

Having said that, my favourite 2nd Symphony is the one referred to by Morakeo. This is a DG mono recording (wouldn't think it by the sound) recorded in West Berlin in 1956 by Sanderling and the Leningrad Philharmonic on tour. There are a few cuts but not on the scale to disfigure the work.

I would describe this recording is that of a great orchestra on the top of their form in total sync with a great conductor, quite obviously playing a piece they loved. Sanderling himself referred to this recording as "an unrepeatable" and for many years was reluctant to record the 2nd Symphony with other orchestras. He did make a late recording in the 80's-90's with the Philharmonia which was certainly good but could not match the 1956 edition.

I agree that the Sanderling/Leningrad Phil. recording is tremendous (now on DG originals). I only discovered it fairly recently after having had the Previn/LSO performance as my number one since it was first issued on LP. [By the way I'm referring to the 1993 performance on EMI, now on EMI Classics, not the later Telarc recording which was always thought to be a good recording but a much less inspirational performance.]
I have the Ashkenazy/Concertgebouw but I was 'brought up' on the early Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the symphonies under Eugene Ormandy (who worked with SVR) - reissued as a very inexpensive 2CD box set on Sonyclassical and worth adding to any collection, despite the cuts.
Don't ignore the set by the RPO with Andrew Litton, either (with the Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead etc.) - fine performances under a conductor who did a superb job accompanying Stephen Hough in his magnificent set of the piano concertos.
Nobody has mentioned the Svetlanov recordings. His early set (mid-60s) is available on Regis and his more recent recordings of all the orchestral works with the State Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation (3CD set on Warner Classics). Svetlanov can be idiosyncratic but he is always interesting and his performances are full of heart and fire.
There are lots more that could be mentioned. Aren't we lucky to have so many excellent performances available to us? The only problem is finding time to listen to them all!

I haven't heard the Sanderling for a long time. When I first heard it I didn't appreciate it much. I must give it another try!

I agree that Litton is well worth hearing and that the Previn (EMI) version remains a classic and a very safe first choice.

However, if I only had one version it would be Ormandy's RCA recording, not cut like the one on Sony, with absolutely superb playing by the Philadelphia Orchestra and very good recording.

Another version to look out for (I have it on Australian Decca Eloquence label) is by Paul Kletzki, almost complete, the sound still very fine and -for me - a great performance, even if the orchestral ensemble isn't the very finest.

I wrote above: '.......the Previn/LSO performance as my number one since it was first issued on LP. [By the way I'm referring to the 1993 performance on EMI, now on EMI Classics, not the later Telarc recording which was always thought to be a good recording but a much less inspirational performance.]'

Try the performance by Steinberg and the Pittsburgh Symphony, recorded in the 1950's in mono. It's my choice for tops.

Close behind is Ashkenazy and the Concertgebouw,. I like Ormandy with the Philadephia, but now ,in retrospect, it's just a little too lush for my liking since I prefer a little more transparency of texture.

There are at least three Previn recordings, two with the LSO. The one on RCA with the LSO is an older and incomplete one with a lot of cuts. The really great one is the LSO recording of the complete, uncut symphony on EMI, just a few years later. (It was remastered to CD in the late 1990's). It was the first recording ever of the uncut version of the symphony and it had such a great response that most recordings afterward have been complete as well. The Telarc is good but not considered as good as the EMI LSO.

A0110915 wrote:There are at least three Previn recordings, two with the LSO. The one on RCA with the LSO is an older and incomplete one with a lot of cuts. The really great one is the LSO recording of the complete, uncut symphony on EMI, just a few years later. (It was remastered to CD in the late 1990's). It was the first recording ever of the uncut version of the symphony and it had such a great response that most recordings afterward have been complete as well. The Telarc is good but not considered as good as the EMI LSO.